Baby Showers
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Shower #1
I was in high school, and not very
popular because I wasn't into whatever boy band was popular at the time,
nor was I all that interested in designer clothes. I still got invited to
one of the popular girls' baby showers (we were 15) and she had decided
that ALL of the sophomore girls were going to get invited. We were
"required" to bring a gift costing no less than $20, plus an
additional $15 cash to chip in for a crib. I was broke (I didn't have a
job yet) and didn't think that my mom should be required to pay for baby
gifts for a girl that hated me and barely knew my name. I politely
declined attending the shower.
Shower #2
It was my first (and hopefully my
only....I don't think that I need another shower just because I'm having
another baby) shower, and it was held after I had my son. My aunt and
grandmother threw it for me. It was not a surprise, but they didn't ask if
there was anyone that I wanted there (no big deal, my best friend wound up
bringing my gift to the hospital anyway). I was breastfeeding (or trying
to anyway) my son, and during the time where they were "passing the
baby" so everyone could hold him, he got hungry. I wanted to take him
to feed him in the ladies' room where I could be discreet about it (I
wasn't very good at it yet, and was more worried about getting him to eat
than to keep myself covered, so a stall in the ladies' room was perfect
for privacy). I was told that he didn't need to be breastfed, he needed a
bottle. I told them that I didn't have any bottles or formula because I
was breastfeeding (I had brought changes of clothes and tons of diapers
though). Someone managed to cough up a bottle and formula and popped the
bottle in his mouth. He refused. They got mad at ME because he wouldn't
take a bottle. They tried telling me that I shouldn't breastfeed him
anyway. ARGH!! (side note: thank you letters, individually written and
addressed were sent out a few days later)
Shower #3
I didn't go to this one, but got the
play-by-play from my mother...apparently I was the talk of the town.
Background: My cousin's wife got
pregnant about 3 months before I did. At our grandmother's 80th birthday
party, she found out that I'm expecting baby #2. She came over to me, sat
down, and proceeded to berate me. She said, "I know you really aren't
pregnant, you are just saying you are to get some attention." Huh???
OK, whatever. My big belly and sonogram pictures should say otherwise by
this point (I'm 6 weeks away from my due date). She wasn't happy that I
was also pregnant. No big deal. She is the type that has to be at the
center of attention anyway.
She had her baby shower on my birthday.
My son and husband had "something" planned for me (they wouldn't
tell me what it was, they wanted it to be a surprise), so I politely
declined (I also declined because of how my cousin's wife reacted at her
wedding shower, but that story is to come later). Apparently at the
shower, cousin's wife demanded to know from my mother if I was "still
claiming to be pregnant." My mom told her that I was *very* pregnant,
and cousin's wife responded, "Yeah, right. Whatever." She
demanded to know why I wasn't there, and why I hadn't sent a present for
her. "It's not like she didn't know where I was registered or
anything." I thought it sounded like she was being a spoiled brat. My
mom said, "Well, you could have gotten her *something* at
least." Well, yeah, I could have, but you should hear about this
girl's wedding shower.
Shower #4
A co-worker was having her 3rd baby. She
had two boys and baby-to-be was going to be a girl. Not a problem. I could
handle this. I went out and bought a pack of infant diapers, wipes, a cute
girly snuggly, and some hair bows. No one knew what she really wanted, so
I went with the old standbys. At the party, we played all kinds of
obnoxious games. We played pin the diaper on the baby, and a few others.
The two that really stand out in my mind as being out of place and
obnoxious beyond belief were the Chubby Bunnies and the Banana game. If
you have never played Chubby Bunnies, you take large marshmallows and put
them in your mouth one at a time. After each marshmallow say "Chubby
bunny", then put another in your mouth and repeat. After about 5
large marshmallows, it starts to get disgusting. The banana game was a new
one on me. Apparently everyone gets a banana and a condom. You are
supposed to roll the condom onto the banana with your *mouth*. Whoever
gets the condom on completely first, wins. This is entertainment at a
*baby* shower???
Baby Showers 0804-03
The Banana game is disgusting. This is one of those situations where demonstratively NOT participating
may be viewed by the hostess as rude but OH WELL! Being polite
doesn't mean sacrificing one's dignity for the sake of some hostess with
her mind in the gutter.
My second brother ‘had to’ get
married. His older girlfriend had gotten pregnant. She already had
teenaged kids. The first thing that bothered me was the ‘happy mother’
knew her family carried serious genetic flaws, but got pregnant anyhow.
They went to Nevada to get married.
Comes the baby shower – they are 800
or so miles away. Good for them, I planned it that way. Then I get a card
in the mail, an invitation to the baby shower, with a Xeroxed slip of
paper ‘we’re registered at’. I am not attending this shower; I am
not sending you a gift either. I am not close to my brother either; I do
not even talk to him. (His life has included massive recreational drug
use, I am zero tolerance.)
A few days later in conversation with my
mother, who is INSANE for grandchildren, she asks what I sent to them.
"Nothing," I reply. She is mortified; I have to send them
SOMETHING. Then she says to send them this $100 baby swing, or better yet,
just send the cash. Turns out the baby was supersized, he would not have
fit into the baby swing anyway.
I was raised with the expectation of
thank you notes, courtesy phone calls, the whole nine yards. As my mother
gets further into Babyland, all this seems to peel away from her, and she
is the least well-mannered person around.
This is the same brother I caved into
buying a pricey Christmas present for, an imported English plum pudding
and hard sauce. I never heard if he even received it. Two years later, at
my sister’s wedding, I ask him about it. "Oh yeah, I got
that," is all he says. Just strikes me as rude. I thought if you were
800 miles away, you basically aren’t attending a shower, especially for
a long-estranged brother and the wife you’ve never met, gifts aren’t
mandatory, especially when you’re told what to send. If I was attending,
of course, I would bring a gift.
I still think I was switched at birth.
Nobody in my family is aging very well. Any manners they had are
disappearing!
Baby Showers 0807-03
My friend and I gladly made the plans
for a baby shower for one of her co-workers, whom I did not know well ,
but happy to help the poor soul . She did not had the blessing from a
marriage nor the support of the father-to-be, so I really wanted to help
the new babe's arrival into this world. A tea was planned with no expenses
spared: the most expensive treats, flowers, favors, china crystal,
champagne etc. Each time I came up with an idea (good ones) without
breaking the bank, my co-host would take it to her female relatives and
tear it to pieces, plus if the future mom did not like it , out it went.
After spending money for invites, decorations, flowers, I became weary and
just went along. I was still firm on making the sandwiches and teas. The
registry list was 6 pages long!!!
Someone got the fake idea that Jordan
almonds were a must, therefore more favors to wrap at the last minute.
Someone else urged that a large cake was also needed for
"presentation." Well, the presentation cake had a picture drawn
or something that looked more like Dracula than a baby's face. Worst of
all, no one could eat it.
One relative called the reception the
shower from Hell. I will never again put myself in this position. The
honored guest is not suppose to dictate how we do the shower nor replace
it for the wedding she will never have. She is entitled to a list of
people she wants present. Period. Forgot to tell you the vast majority of
people here who give showers have it at a restaurant and each guest must
pay for the food the host has chosen. That another kind I will never go
to.
Baby Showers 0809-03
This is a story about a baby shower I
threw for a (former) friend. We'll call her "Nancy" to protect
the guilty. I had known Nancy for years, and she was a nice person, if a
little clueless when it came to manners. While definitely not on a par
with a lot of the stories I read in eHell, it sure annoyed me at the time!
Two years ago, Nancy called me up to
tell me that she had fallen pregnant by accident. Her boyfriend wanted
nothing to do with the baby, and as Nancy was 24, with a high school
education and working at a low-paying retail job, this was not
particularly happy news. Nancy decided to carry on with the pregnancy and
keep the baby without her boyfriend's support. As her family was fairly
poor, and none of her friends were very organized, I thought it would be
nice to throw her a baby shower. After asking her if anyone else had one
planned (so as not to step on any toes), I got a list of people and sent
out invitations and made finger sandwiches, snacks, and punch. My
grandmother made a beautiful hand-stitched baby quilt and I presented it
to Nancy as a gift from myself, my mom and my grandmother.
The day of the shower dawned, and *5*
out of the 12 people who had RSVP'ed appeared. FIVE. I was highly annoyed,
but tried to act graciously and carried on as if nothing had happened.
During the shower, two of Nancy's aunts carried on a loud commentary about
the probable cost of each gift, wondered why there were no gimme-type
shower games "like a money tree", and discussed in loud tones
one of the aunts' upcoming wedding - to a man she'd known all of two weeks
- while pointedly ignoring everyone else. The other women were pleasant,
but these two idiots made me want to scream!
Following the shower, I never received
so much as a verbal "thank-you" from Nancy. Given that her
manners are somewhat lacking, I could ignore the lack of a card, if only
she had *said* thank you! The part that burned me the most, though, was
that she did not send a thank-you card for the gift my grandmother had
spent so much time sewing - even though my mother and I both mentioned
that my grandmother would love to hear how much she had liked it. After 2
months, I finally called her up and asked her politely to please call my
grandmother and thank her. Nancy was aghast that she was actually expected
to send thank you notes for shower gifts, because it was "so much
work" (although she did call my grandmother)!!! Nancy has since had
the baby, but I no longer maintain contact with her.
Baby Showers 0829-03
My sister was recently honored with a
baby shower that was given by her husband's family (yes, I was surprised
to hear of this as well). The next sign that it was going to be a
bit...unusual...was the guest list. Other than our mother and her
neighbor, the only people invited to the shower were members of the
husband's family (I live too far away to have attended). Our brother's
wife, who recently gave birth and does live nearby, apparently did not
make the guest list.
The fun continues with the games. The
only people to win any of the door prizes were -- you guessed it --the
husband's family members. But best of all was the introduction of a game
no one we've spoken to has been able to identify. Somehow one of the
husband's nieces was selected to receive the 7th baby gift. That's right.
A teen-age girl, with no children, won a gift that was supposedly intended
for the baby and/or mother. The fact that this particular gift was brought
to the party by the teen's mother, who also has an infant, was lost on no
one. Oh, and the woman took all the food and the baby shower cake home
with her as well!
Baby Showers 0831-03
I once had a "friend" who,
when she was pregnant with her first child, I threw a baby shower for. A
little background on this "friend" first. She had been planning
for her baby since before she was married, what I mean is actually buying
boy baby clothes and collecting toys, wall hangings, etc. She was also
very controlling and had an affair and told her husband beforehand that
she was going to have the affair. Anyway, this "friend", who I
shall deem Peg, actually told me that I was to host her baby shower. My
self-esteem was kind of low back then and I didn’t have many friends, so
I took her abuse when I really should have told her to ‘stick it’.
Peg not only told me to host the shower,
but she told me exactly what kind of food to have, what invitations she
wanted, where to get the cake from and what design she wanted on it (it
was to match the invitations), what games to play, what decorations to put
up and what day to hold it. Well that made the details easy but not
inexpensive.
I rented the clubhouse in her community
and I ordered food, cake, bought favors, prizes and set up the games. When
the day arrived for the shower, it went off beautifully except that the
security alarm went off (the leasing company forgot to come out and turn
it off) and two neighborhood hoodlums showed up and tried to weasel their
way into the food. Luckily the room where we were had big doors and once
we closed them, we couldn’t hear the alarm and I kicked the hoodlums out
with all the other ladies behind me glaring at them.
Peg later confided in me that one of her
other close friends told her that she didn’t think I could ‘pull it
off’ and almost didn’t come because she thought it would be a
disaster. I found out later that friend accused me of stealing the $25
gift check she gave to Peg at the baby’s christening. Apparently she was
jealous that I was closer to Peg than she was. I should have said,
"You can have her!"
A month or so later, I was moving back
to my native state, so I gathered my friends for a farewell dinner and
night out. Peg came to the dinner and my other friends inquired about how
her pregnancy was going and did she know what the sex of the baby was. She
said, "It is a boy." They asked if she had seen her sonogram.
She said no. They asked how she knew it was a boy. She snottily replied,
"It’s my body, I just know." Of course this astounded my
friends, and they got in an argument and shortly left. Peg then berated me
for not standing up for her in the argument.
When Peg later had her sonogram, she
found out she was having a girl. Thus she had to go out and buy all new
baby clothes because the ones she had were for a boy. She also told me
that she would never "do" the pregnancy thing again and that
they would adopt a little boy. It’s been 2 years since I have seen or
talked to Peg but a friend of mine ran into her at a craft store and
reported to me that she was VERY pregnant with her second child. I wonder
if she has predicted a boy this time!
Baby Showers 1010-03
I previously submitted a story about a
Bridezilla who was a person I considered my surrogate sister. I ended the
tale mentioning that she started a petty argument and that I was making no
effort to contact her beyond that point.
Five months after "Lucy" and I
stopped speaking, I ran into her mother and she asked me if I was to
attend the baby shower. I tried not to seem surprised about Lucy’s
pregnancy though I knew that her husband "Brian" had made it
clear that he wanted no children before their third anniversary so that
they could pay off some of the initial debt that had they had acquired
over the previous two years. I told Lucy’s mom that I’d forgotten the
due date and she "reminded" me of it. And added by saying
remember she found out two days after her birthday. Lucy and I had our row
on the day after her birthday. It turns out she’d told her parents that
I was attending a college out of state and quite often used my "being
down for the weekend" as an excuse as to why they couldn’t visit
her parents on several occasions. I was beginning to form a theory.
The remaining four months passed and I
had a feeling. I got a call out of the blue one day…
"Hello."
"Dave? This is Lucy. How are
you?"
"I’m good, it’s been awhile
since I talked to you." At this point I’m curious about the nature
of the call and the outcome of the pregnancy.
"Brian’s been trying to get me to
call you for almost a year."
"Is that right? How is he?"
"Fine, so um, whatcha’ doin’?"
"Putting up groceries. Why don’t
you two come over for dinner?"
"Good deal, plus I have someone I
want you to meet."
"Okay 7:00 good?" It was about
2:30.
"Why don’t we come over
now?"
"Okay."
They arrive 45 minutes later, baby in
tow. Brian tells me of how he’s tried to get Lucy to call me for the
past 9 months and the events of her pregnancy. I make a few visits to
their house and one evening when Lucy and I were sitting alone I remark
that she must have been pregnant when we’d had our row.
"I knew before my birthday but I
wasn’t sure until a few days later." She looked sincere.
I asked. "What was it that we
fought about?"
The look on her face still makes me
shudder. "It doesn’t matter, I just didn’t want you giving Brian
the impression that I’d gone off my birth control." While I knew
that this had to have been the case I would never have called her on it in
front of Brian.
The worst part is that she now wants
another baby! I feel sorry for Brian.
Baby Showers 1024-03
My best friend from high school had
married and moved out of the country for a number of years while her
husband attended school. They had 2 children (we did throw a shower for
the first one as they were still living here at that time) and recently
moved back to our city. When they moved back, we were told that they were
expecting baby #3. A friend and I decided that it would be nice to throw a
shower for baby #3 as the family had been out of the country for a few
years and were having some trouble adjusting to life back at 'home' -
friends have moved on, lost touch, etc. It would be a good chance to get
everyone together and to welcome the newest addition.
I discussed this with the mom-to-be and
she was excited with our offer. We began planning. We decided to have an
informal gathering at my house, with the other kids were invited, snacks,
visiting, etc., no silly games this time, just a nice get-together.
We sent out the invitations about 4
weeks prior. Four days prior to the shower, we only had 2 rsvps. So...
including the organizing 'committee' (myself, friend and sister), the two
rsvp's and mom and kids, we were going to have an intimate gathering of
about 6 people. The day before the shower, I called the 'mom' and asked
her if her mom was coming as we hadn't heard from her. She said yes and
that her sister was coming too. (That's all fine and dandy - do they not
know what"R.S.V.P." means???!?). Well, I decided that too much
food was better than too little, so I prepared an overabundance - thank
goodness!! We ended up with 16 people, and still only 2 had actually
RSVP'd. The mom to be's mother, sister, grandmother, mother-in-law,
sister-in-law (with 2 kids in tow) and husband showed up along with a
couple of stray friends.
We did have a fun time. I had extra
coloring books for the kids, so that kept them busy and we all had a nice
visit. Everyone brought lovely little baby gifts to welcome the new little
one; we carefully kept track of each gift and who it was from for the new
mom to make thank-you notes easier to send out. My mom, who was unable to
attend had sent three lovely packages, one for the new baby and one each
for the other children as she felt that they should not be forgotten in
all of the hubbub over the new baby. She spent a lot of time putting
together these packages, and the girls were very excited with their gifts.
I had also started a scrap-book for the new baby (which took a lot of time
while also planning the food, decor, etc.).
All of the guests had left except for
the family: mom, dad and kids. I was helping pack everything up, and mom
and dad got into a discussion about the gifts and how they had asked their
moms for gift certificates so they could buy their oldest child some
clothes or restaurant/movie certificates so they could go out, but instead
they were given an outfit. They sounded very upset at the gifts that they
had received for their baby. How selfish!!! I mean really, it's one thing
to feel this way, but if you want to discuss it, save it until you get
home! I felt as though all of our hard work was for naught.
Well, it is now almost 5 months since
this shower and not a thank-you has been received. I did receive a two -
line email the Monday after the shower from the mom saying that they had a
nice time, but no thank-you for the actual gifts, etc. My mom, who was
like a second mother to my friend while growing up, has not received a
phone call or card to thank her for anything (and she wasn't even at the
shower for there to be an 'excuse' that the thank-you's were given in
person). I do understand that with 3 little ones underfoot there isn't
much time for extra things, but this is ridiculous. Last month, I emailed
my friend and in it I just mentioned that my mom wanted to know if the
girls were enjoying their dolls and if their outfits fit as my mom hadn't
heard from her, but I received no response. I'll take this with a grain of
salt and move on, but I know that this is the last thing I do for this
friend as she obviously didn't appreciate anything that we did for her.
Baby Showers 1027-03
My husband and I met and married
while at college. After 5 years of marriage, I had visited and been
visited by his immediate family quite a few times. The only other times I
had met anyone else besides his parents and sisters was at one of his
sisters' wedding, and at a "meet the bride" party his parents
threw for us on our first visit to them as a married couple.
I received a baby shower invitation in
the mail. Well, I assume it was for me. My name was horribly, horribly
mangled. I'm not using my real name here, but assume it is like
"Caloda." The invitation was addressed to "Cerlind."
And I use the term "invitation" loosely: "We know you can't
make it to the shower (The party was about a 15 hour drive from where we
lived). The mother-to-be is registered at such-and-such store." And
this was printed, which means they sent it to others!
To top it all off, I had no clue as to
who either the mother-to-be was, or the person giving the party (turns out
the mother was throwing a shower for her daughter). I showed the names to
my husband, and it took him a few minutes to figure out that they were
distant, distant relatives of his. I asked him, were they at the party his
parents had for us? No. Were they at his sister's wedding? No. So I have
never, ever met them, or even *seen* them? Yes. I threw that all too
obvious gift grab in the garbage.
Baby Showers 1031-03
I recently received an invitation to a
close relative's baby shower. This was her second child, however, she was
recently remarried and her son from her first marriage was 12 years old. I
was surprised to learn that the shower, hosted by her co-workers, was to
be at a popular ethnic restaurant at 4 pm on a Friday evening. The
restaurant did not have a private room.
Upon arriving at the shower, for which I
traveled 2 hours one way, I found that the hosts had arranged for one big
long table right through the restaurant. As we gathered the patrons of the
restaurant also crowded in, and it was rather noisy and uncoordinated. The
invitation had made no mention that it was "pay for your own
meal", and as such I assumed that at least appetizers and sodas would
be provided. NADA. I had to pay for my own soda, and, as it was dinnertime
and I was hungry, my own meal, with tip and tax.
I would have gladly traveled anyway to
see my relative, and I was not upset that they did not pay for my meal;
however, I think it was extremely rude not to let us know that they were
not providing any food or drinks ahead of time. I will hopefully never
attend a 'party' that her co-workers 'host' ever again!
Baby Showers 1117-03
One branch of our family has taken
trashiness to new lows, particularly in the coupling and new babies
department. Our boy cousin became enamored of a young woman whose chief
goal in life seems to be stealing pharmaceutical narcotics; into this
unwed nirvana they had already brought one new baby (joining another child
from a previous fling of the woman's). The night before the young lady was
to go to jail after having been arrested for her drug transgressions and
jumping bail she and our cousin had a last fling and yes, of course,
another child has been born. (Fortunately the jail sentence was merely 6
months.)
Their celebration over bringing another
child into this drug-laden dysfunctional home is in itself nauseating.
Worse yet are the incessant email photographs and birth announcements we
on their cast-of-thousands mailing list receive. One of these
announcements is presented by a company that runs a circuit through
maternity wards, snapping the first "official" portrait of the
new baby (first set of prints free) and publishing it on a web site for
all our benefits. Naturally enough, the website makes gift-giving easy
with thoughtful links to several baby boutiques which already have the
recipients' shipping information on file. All we deliriously happy people
have to do is whip out that credit card and go gifting.
They are the type of people that, had
they bothered to get married, would no doubt have included all of their
bridal registry information in their invitational telephone calls and
emails. (Needless to say, the family pickup truck has a confederate flag
rear window shade.) Might Planned Parenthood be looking for poster
children?
Baby Showers 1121-03
My best-friend, "Sue" got
pregnant right out high school by a man I will call "Bob."
Because Bob was basically a lazy, good-for-nothing human being, their
on-again off-again relationship ended as she was nearing the 3 month mark
of her pregnancy. Then, quite unexpectedly, Sue decided to start dating
again and she met a nice man named "Mark." I thought it was sort
of weird for a pregnant woman to start dating, but it didn't surprise me
in the least bit.
Six months into her pregnancy with Bob's
baby, Sue and Mark decided to get married on the spur of the moment. Okay,
fine. What wasn't fine was that Sue told Bob that she was refusing him the
right to see his child and she was putting Mark as the father of the baby
on the birth certificate. Yes, he made mistakes, but it was still his
child too. Bob continuingly tried to call Sue, but she wouldn't answer his
calls or requests to talk though their differences logically.
Fast forward to Sue's baby shower, and
dozens of people were invited. However, I couldn't attend because I had to
work and was only given one week's notice of the shower! Yep, they
actually planned it in one week. Sue's other friend "Mary"
decided to throw the shower, and only twelve people showed up, mostly
because of the circumstances surrounding the event!
I was invited to the birth of the child,
and it was a moment I will never forget. The baby was so beautiful. Sue
put her new husband, Mark, as the father on the baby's birth certificate,
and did keep her promise of not letting Bob see (or even know) about the
baby's birth. I sent two gifts to house, a wedding gift and a baby gift. I
really didn't have the money for either, because I was in college, mainly
because she was my best-friend and I was happy to do it. I also drove two
hours to see the new couple in their apartment, but still no thank you
card or even spoken gratitude for my efforts.
After several phone calls and unanswered
messages went unacknowledged for many months, I assumed that Sue no longer
wanted to be friends and left it at that. Heartbroken, I went on as usual.
One year later, I received an invitation in the mail for the baby's first
birthday party asking to bring a covered dish. You can bet I threw it in
the garbage.
Baby Showers 1223-03
I love this site! My SIL could have her
own category all to herself! Her antics keep us alternately in stitches
and tears. I knew I was in for a treat when she came to a get-together and
met my mom for the first time.
Here is some background. "O"
is very pregnant at the time of this story. Now keep in mind that she has
already given birth to one child not long before and has had the requisite
shower and such. After "O" found out that she was pregnant
again, she promptly threw out all of the booty from the first shower. My
mom "A" is a well-to-do, professional, very classy lady.
"O" is introduced to "A" and then "O" pulls
me off to the side to say that she is throwing herself a shower in
anticipation of baby number two and then says that I am required to be
there and I should bring my mom. I think "a bit on the tacky side;
but I'm new to her family so I can go along with this and mention it to
mom." The kicker is that she then adds that she thinks from the looks
of my mom, she will score something big off of her registry. HUH? My mom
goes along with me on the appointed day bearing two (quite nice) things
selected from aforementioned registry. It has been six years and she is
still waiting for the thank-you card! YIPES!
Baby Showers 1226-03
This past weekend I attended a baby
shower for my 18-year-old niece, a lovely girl (although a bit flighty)
who got pregnant unexpectedly by a young boy she had known for only a
short time. It was understood by pretty much all that she was one of those
people that was in dire NEED of a shower, as she had literally no means to
secure anything for herself. However, my dear niece, being the flighty
soul she is, could not decide if she wanted a shower (she threw a few
tantrums on the subject) so everyone dropped the subject and went about
their merry ways. Until three weeks ago. Suddenly my niece shows up and
decides she wants a shower and is highly upset that she doesn't have one
already planned for her. There was no rationalizing with her about her
previous behavior so we all sat back for the ride.
First, she wants her best friend
(SusieQ) to host it (the friend is agreeable). However the friend is 17
and has no job or means of income. So my niece and her friend
"panhandle" for money from different family members and
apparently did quite well. So the preparations begin (favors, games,
prizes) and then in a passing conversation I ask SusieQ if she got out the
invitations yet (I knew this was of the utmost importance since the shower
was on short notice anyhow--not quite three weeks). SusieQ is floored.
Invitations had never occurred to her, I mean wouldn't people just show up
if they know we are having a shower (word of mouth and all). I knew it was
useless to broach the subject any further so I immediately went out,
purchased invites and furiously filled them out and sent them off, at my
expense of course. My niece and her friend are oblivious as to why I am
miffed at them both.
Thankfully, all of the hard work put in
pretty much non-stop by myself, my SIL's , my niece and SusieQ turn out a
nice looking shower. Pretty decorations, nice food, fun games, good prizes
etc... However, the day does not go off smoothly. My niece arrives for her
shower in a pair of pants that won't zip because she refused to buy any
maternity clothes they are just so dorky don't ya know) and a shirt that
isn't even long enough to hide the fact that her pants are unzipped. And
my personal heartstopper was the three HUMONGOUS hickeys all over her
neck. I convince my niece that we have time to run to her house where she
can at least don some sweatpants or something that would be more tasteful.
She mercifully agrees.
So now that is taken care of and the
shower begins. My niece makes a lovely speech thanking SusieQ for all of
her hard work. Not bothering to mention the hard work put in by anyone
else or the fact that we had paid for the entire thing (of course, that
would have been an etiquette faux pas in itself) The shower proceeds
wonderfully, and my niece receives a lot of wonderful items. The shower
ends and my niece and SusieQ leave immediately while my SIL's and myself
clean up.
As a note I know it is a faux pas for
family to throw showers. However, this was a bootstrap operation from the
get go and I feel it can be excused just this once!!!!!!!
Baby Showers 1108-03
Page Last Updated May 15, 2007
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